Working on your mobility is just as valuable as your strength training. Without good mobility, you won’t be able to get the most from your workouts. So humble tools like foam rollers can be as useful to have at home as dumbbells or kettlebells. There are other, even simpler tools that can enhance your mobility and hence your workouts too.
You may not have noticed it, but the chances are your gym has a wooden stick made of dowel about an inch thick lying around somewhere. This simple tool is useful for practicing the bar path of big lifts, and can also be used to add serious strength and power.
Using a stick for mobility stretches can help increase your control through large ranges of motion. The more control you have of your big joints, such as the shoulders and hips, the more mobility and stability you develop. Mobility and stability of a joint allows the body to produce greater power.
The stick takes advantage of mechanical leverage to make it easier to overcome the body’s resistance to bending.
It’s a great addition to your warm-up after a pulse-raiser, so make sure your muscles and joints are warm and focus on the areas you will be working on in the session.
How to do these stick mobility stretches
If you’re doing overhead work, do the first drill. If you’re squatting, focus on the drills that target the hips.
I’d suggest spending at least 30 seconds on each stretch because the benefits get greater as the hold is held. If you have the time, hold each move for one to two minutes. Add this to your warm-up at least once a week and work up to three times.
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At Men’s Fitness we pride ourselves on delivering information that serves a singular purpose: to improve some aspect of your health, fitness or wellbeing. For over 16 years, we’ve been publishing authoritative health and fitness content – written by our expert editors and contributors. Each of our workouts has been created and tested by either a highly experienced editor or expert contributor. These stick stretches were suggested by David Arnot, co-founder of London’s Evolve353 gym.
Try these four stick mobility stretches
1. Shoulder ‘dislocation’
Why I like it: This is a moving shoulder ‘dislocation’ to improve control through the range of movement rather than a stretch. It’s great for shoulder health and to improve the overhead squat position.
How to do the shoulder ‘dislocation’:
- Start holding the stick at hip height in front of you with a wide grip
- Bring the stick up and over your head in an arc
- Go back as far as you can, then return to the start and repeat
2. Side rotation
Why I like it: This is a great drill to improve the front rack position in a front squat. You can really work on the back and shoulder muscles, which all need to be on your side if you want to front squat well.
How to do the side rotation:
- Hold the stick horizontally to one side with the elbow on that side bent at roughly 90 degrees
- Rotate the stick through 180° until your upper arm is parallel to the floor
3. Lat stretch
Why I like it: You will feel this down near your hip – the quadratus lumborum to be precise – and up at your lats. If you take a knee you can stretch your psoas and obliques, especially if you push your hips forward and out.
How to do the lat stretch:
- Start holding the stick vertically with one hand on the top and one hand on the bottom
- Whichever hand is on the top, bend the way to feel a stretch in your side
4. Hip stretch
Why I like it: This is a hip flexor stretch. Adding in the lean will give you an oblique and psoas stretch. It’s great if you have been sitting all day, and it’s also good before you perform lunges and squats.
How to do the hip stretch:
- Get into a kneeling lunge position holding the stick overhead with straight arms
- Push your hips forwards to increase the stretch, or forwards and towards the front leg side to increase the stretch
Photography: Glen Burrows
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